An Invitation to Sleep in Your Arms
by Of-butterbeer-and-frogs
Summary: After the man he has been with for 5 years leaves, Harry tries to get his life back together.  He meets a few...interesting...people along the way. SLASH.  OCs.  Title taken from the song of the same name from A New Brain.
1. Prologue

It was his last night in Venice.

"Come here, Harry," the blonde drawled. He crawled closer to the man on the bed, taking his stiff shoulders in a firm grip.

"Cut it out, Draco," Harry replied, shaking him off. They sat in silence for a moment, before Harry stood and walked to the far end of the hotel room. He stared blankly out the large picture window at the city below.

"Harry-" Draco began, but the rest didn't come. He sat tensely on the bed in a rare loss for words. It wasn't like Harry to act this way, but then again...

It was his last night in Venice.

"I'm not leaving on purpose," he tried again. Harry didn't respond. "Really. It's not like I planned this. You know I wouldn't...you know... just up and..._go_. But I don't have a choice. It's-"

"Your job. I know," Harry said curtly. He kept his back to Draco, his impassive green eyes still staring at passerby; seeing nothing. The city was beautiful, that much he knew. It was the reason he moved to Venice, after all. After his defeat of Voldemort 5 years prior, he had unlimited funds and political power. But he chose to run away with the love of his life. And, after all, Venice was one of the most romantic cities in the world. Where better to start a new life than here?

But now that life was shattered. He had to admit, he wasn't exactly surprised, but deep down, he had hoped that maybe, just maybe...Draco would stay.

But it was his last night in Venice. His last night with Harry. His last night with the life they had built together. He'd thrown it all away without thinking twice for a job with the American Ministry of Magic. Without thinking that Harry might be upset. That he might feel such sharp rejection by the man he had fallen so deeply in love with.

Harry turned slowly back around to face Draco. The blonde smiled and opened his arms. A clear invitation.

Grey eyes caught green. A spark. It was still there. All of it. The love and devotion and trust and months and years of happiness and companionship. It was all still there. And beyond it, an invitation for one last night.

Harry stared at the man he had loved for so long. He moved forward, toward waiting arms.

"I-" Draco began, but stopped as Harry moved past the bed and to the door. He didn't have time to process Harry's actions before the raven-haired man said a simple. "Goodbye, Draco."

He left without a backward glance.


	2. Maybe We'll Laugh Too Loud

Harry had absolutely idea where he was.

He had apparated straight from the hotel room with no destination in mind, and into a myriad of colors and movement. Signs flashed, vendors yelled out prices on the street, people walked by without a glance. He flinched as a young woman with her eyes glued to her cellphone bumped his shoulder roughly and, without an apology, kept moving. He had never seen such...chaos.

He spotted a man with a camera waiting to cross the street. "Excuse me, sir?" he asked politely. The man didn't turn. "Sir?" But he was already darting across the street, not paying the honking cars any attention. Harry mentally slapped himself. What was he going to do, ask the man if he knew what city he was in? He'd sound like a nutcase!

"So I said, girl, if you don't stop drinkin' I'm gonna have to take you home right now."

"Yeah, and what'd she'd say?"

Harry spun around and stared at the two girls conversing next to him. Those accents...

"She said she was gonna drink until the day she died, and there was nothin' I could do about it."

"She didn't!"

...They were...

"She did."

Harry lost his breath, face turning pale as he dizzily sat down on the curb. Nobody paid him any mind. He felt light-headed and nauseous. His stomach churned uncomfortably as he tried to process what had happened. It should have been impossible. No witch or wizard in the history of their kind, not even Albus Dumbledore, ever did what he had done.

"Girl you should have hit her right then and there."

"I know it!"

Harry looked up at the two women, noticing that from his angle, he could almost see right up their short skirts. They didn't seem to care. He turned and focused on a young couple across the street, mind spinning. Around him, he heard people speaking in the same accents.

American accents.

He had apparated to another _country._

Exactly how in the hell did he manage to do that?

"You okay, dude?" A voice asked suddenly. Startled, Harry glanced up and into the prettiest blue eyes he had ever seen.

"Um, yeah, m'fine," he mumbled, standing up quickly. He caught the young man's eyes again, and, blushing, looked down. "Any idea where the nearest hotel is? Price doesn't matter."

The man looked at him, brow furrowing, but replied, "The Blue Moon is right down the block. It's kinda pricey, but worth it." He grinned suddenly, making Harry's heart beat just a little bit faster. "They have a free snack bar after midnight! All you can eat cookies and ice cream!"

Harry couldn't help it. The man was just so earnest...he laughed. Long and loud. It felt like ages since he had even cracked a smile, but here he was, lost in another country, with no clue how he had gotten there, laughing at a complete stranger. And was it just him, or was the guy blushing?

"My name's John," the stranger said, holding out a hand. Harry took it without hesitation. "Harry."

They held hands for just a moment too long before John, cheeks still dusted a light pink, broke the tension. "I can walk you down there?" His face was calm and friendly, but his eyes were nervous.

Really, how could Harry resist a handsome young man asking to walk him to his hotel room?

"I'd like that," he replied, seeing the tension fade away from his new friend.

'Maybe friend for now...' Harry thought, taking John's offered arm with a small smile. 'We'll see.'

And high above them, Fate cracked her knuckles and set to work.

**AN: Loads of thanks to everyone who's favorited, reviewed, or put this fic on alert! I appreciate each and every one of you :) Special thanks to _history_, my first and only reviewer so far. If you're here, please take a second to add one of your own!**

**Quick clarification: John is not a rebound! Harry and Draco have had problems for a long time (as _history_ pointed out, it would be odd for Draco not to tell Harry about his new job, but that just shows how deteriorated their relationship is.) They were emotionally distant for a while before Harry left; only using each other for sex. So Harry is far beyond getting over his ex. Now, leave that review pretty please! They fuel my desire to write more slash ;)**


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